A typical agricultural conveyor comprises a main conveyor extending at an upward inclination from an intake end to a discharge end, and an inlet assembly coupled to the intake end. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,066 by Boppart, the inlet assembly commonly comprises a swing auger section including an intake auger coupled to the intake end of the main conveyor for relative pivotal movement about an upright swing axis and an intake hopper having a discharge outlet in communication with the swing auger section. The intake hopper comprises an intake opening substantially fully spanning the top side of the housing of the hopper. A feed mechanism feeds the material received through the intake opening through the swing auger section for conveying by the main conveyor. It is desirable to prevent access of rain into the hopper when not in use as an accumulated water in the hopper can interfere with subsequent operation of the feed mechanism and can cause undesirable oxidation of the metal parts of the hopper.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,731 by Jones discloses an example of a cover for the loading hopper of a grain conveyor. The cover is a flexible member arranged to span the intake opening of a hopper and be retained about the perimeter edge thereof. The cover typically requires removal for most applications such that it is typically stored separately and not always readily available when needed for covering the intake opening. Furthermore, the flexible nature of the cover can allow a puddle to form centrally thereon which can place undesired strain on the fastens such that the fastening may fail causing precipitation to enter into the hopper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,977 by Arnson discloses another example of a hopper cover in which the cover comprises a generally rigid panel for covering the intake opening. The rigid configuration is not susceptible to the problem of a puddle forming centrally thereon as in the above noted example; however, the large rigid panel can be awkward to handle and store due to its size when applied to large hoppers such as the intake hopper typically found on a swing auger section.